Interview with Small Business Owner and Community Activist Wendy Vorpahl
8 min readGillett News sits down with local business owner, Gillett News columnist and community activist Wendy Vorpahl
Hi Wendy! Thank you for participating in this interview. How about we start off with you telling our readers a little bit about yourself…
“I have lived in Gillett since 1995 when my husband and I married. Pete and I have four kids ages 22, 19, 16, and 10. I grew up about 40 miles south of Gillett in Freedom and graduated from Freedom High in 1991. All four of my kids fall on the autism spectrum (our oldest and youngest have Asperger’s Syndrome, and the two middle boys have classic autism), so advocating for those with autism has always been important to me. In addition to being a craft fanatic, I am also involved with Gillett Woman’s Club, the Gillett Business Association, the Gillett News website with my column “Wendy’s Words”, my church’s choir, and with Hintz 4H.”
Q: What is your background? (Education, Work Experience)
“I went back to school in 2012 to pursue Business Management. I received my Associate Degree in Business Management from NWTC in December 2015. Before opening Gillett Handiworks in 2016, I was a stay-at-home mom for 15 years”
Q: What gave you the idea to become an entrepreneur?
“Once my kids were older, I wanted to contribute more to our family financially. After years of hearing and reading horror stories from autism moms losing their jobs for taking too much time off work for their kids, I felt that entrepreneurship would be the most effective way to contribute. I was going to originally sell just crafts that I have made, but my husband made the suggestion to sell craft supplies as well. I am now thankful that we do.”
Q: Describe your business…
“Here at Gillett Handiworks we sell craft supplies for things like knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, quilting, jewelry making, painting, sewing, and even items for kid’s crafts. We also sell finished crafts on consignment. We have classes here periodically for learning crochet, knitting, painting and jewelry making as well.”
Q: What product(s) or services do you offer/manufacture?
“In addition to what I mentioned above, we will also do painting for those who wish to have things like lawn ornaments painted or repainted.”
Q: How do you advertise your business?
“Gillett Handiworks has a Facebook page and a website: gilletthandiworks.weebly.com. Facebook is actually quite business friendly with their advertising options, and definitely less expensive than other advertising forms.”
Q: What made you choose your current location
“After doing some market research, we realized that outside of Shawano Walmart, a vast majority of people in the area would drive all the way to Green Bay or order online for their craft supplies. Gillett is a central location for crafters in this area. When we realized our current building was for sale, we purchased it in September 2016.”
Q: What are your business’s goals?
“I hope Gillett Handiworks continues to grow, and that Pete and I can be in business for years to come. Pete and I also dream of one day being able to purchase a long arm quilting machine so our quilting customers can bring their work in to be completed. I have seen quilting machines run between $10,000-$20,000 depending on what kind of features the machine has.”
Q: What’s unique about your business?
“I would have to say the variety of product we offer. When we first opened, our distributor offered a planogram service where they set up charts of what products to carry and how to display them. Our distributor works with businesses all over the world and had a record of what sold the best and in what areas. From there they were able to set up recommendations for us. Some of the products they recommended and sent to us I had honestly never heard of until we saw them in the boxes for the first time, so it was a learning experience.”
Q: What are your responsibilities as the owner of Gillett Handiworks?
“As owner, not only do I need to keep up on building maintenance and inventory, but I also need to keep track of what trends are popular in all areas of crafting. Following those trends gives me an idea of what new things customers may be interested in and if we should discontinue any items. To help with keeping up on trends, I follow groups on Facebook that are solely for things like crochet, quilting, knitting, etc.”
Q: What are the biggest issues you face when running your business?
“I have always been a people pleaser, and having my business has forced me to learn to accept that I am not going to be able to please everyone all the time. I will-and have done-everything I can for customers, but sometimes my hands are going to be tied on certain matters. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened very often.
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Q: How has being an entrepreneur affected your family and life?
“It was an adjustment for our three younger kids, but our oldest was away at college by the time Gillett Handiworks opened so he wasn’t affected as much. People with autism do not handle changes well and depend on routine to get through their days. Until the store opened, they had only known me as always being at home. To go from that to me being away from home six days a week wasn’t easy for them at first. Now I think my kids enjoy us having the store-one amusing reason is because we get better Wi-Fi at the store than at our home 7 miles out of town!”
“It has been good for all of them too, because the contact with people helps them to use the social skills they learned in school (social skills can be a weak spot for those with autism).”
“When you run a business, you need to be there A LOT if you have no employees. I have had to miss many Saturday events because I needed to be here, but it’s important to be available when my customers need me.”
Q: What motivates you?
“The desire to set a good example for my kids. I don’t want my kids to give up when things get hard, so I can’t either. I hope they see from watching me that hard work will get you far in life.”
Q: Does Gillett Handiworks benefit the community? If so, how?
“When I was going to do a shop with just my crafts, I was going to call it Wendy’s Handiworks. Other craft shops that I had come across seemed to have overused crafts in their name, or would spell it with a ‘k’ to try and make it different. Handiwork is just a synonym for craft. When we decided on adding craft supplies, I thought to call it ‘Gillett Handiworks’ because it will be handiwork for people in and around Gillett.”
Q: What has been your most satisfying moment in business?”
When I see people inspired to try and learn a craft in my shop and continue on with it after attending one of my classes, or they are able to do something because of a suggestion I gave. Working on crafts is so therapeutic and fun, and it just makes my day when I can help others enjoy it too.”
Q: What or Who has been your greatest inspiration?
“When it comes to crafts, my maternal grandmother. She tried to teach me knit and crochet when I was eight and nine years old, but it didn’t click with me then. I regretted giving up on it, and when I was an adult I gave it another try. This time it clicked! (Thanks, grandma for planting that seed!)”
“When it comes to being a business owner, my two middle kids. They have had the most issues because of how deep on the autism spectrum they are. What they lacked in communication they made up for in determination. They don’t always understand ‘can’t’-when they want to do something it is not unusual for them to have this ‘come hell or high water I’m doing it’ attitude with something, and sometimes I am jealous of that.”
“When it comes to being a mother to special needs kids, that would have to be growing up with a disabled father. I was only six when my dad was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and by the time I was 14 the disease progressed to the point that he was wheelchair bound full time. I learned from that experience how important attitude can be.”
Q: How do you define success?
“Not giving up-even when it’s hard!!! Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Q: If you were to write a book about yourself, what would you name it?
“Keep On Keepin’ On!”
“I would choose that title because that is really how I have handled everything I have dealt with in my life.
Q: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting their own business what would it be?
“If you are able to do any studying on Business Management before starting, you definitely want to do that -even if it’s just purchasing books on Business Management. I would not have been able to run a business without my degree, because it has taught me about obstacles and laws and other factors that I never would have considered on my own.”
Q: Is there anything else you would like to say to our readers?
“If you haven’t paid Gillett Handiworks a visit, I hope one day you do! If you are new to crafts, I would love to help you get started! If you are already a crafter, Gillett Handiworks will help you get the supplies you need without the long drive to a craft store! Spend less time in your car and more time working on crafts you love!”
____End of Interview____
The Gillett News Team would like to thank Wendy Vorpahl for participating in this interview.
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Connect with Wendy
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Connect with Gillett Handiworks
(920) 855-5002
124 E Main St, Gillett, WI 54124
www.gilletthandiworks.weebly.com/
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